Italy
Italy was a pre-war nation based primarily in Southern Europe. It was a member state of the European Commonwealth and was a major political and cultural hub internationally speaking for being the home of the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican. Italy would play a major role as one of the most important nations in pre-war times up until the Resource Wars with the nation being economically deploeted and its destruction in the Great War. History Origins and 20th Century Italy was a nation that was born rather early as it was the home of the Roman Empire and the basis for the Papal States. Italy would go one to become the home of the Roman Catholic Church which would spread both Catholicism and Christianity all throughout both Europe, the Western World, and the rest of the world in general. Modern Italy would be formed in the year 1946 when it finally became a republic a year after its defeat in World War II and would go one to become a modern western democratic society. Early 21st Century In the year 2000 at the start of the 21st Century, Italy became one of the founding members of the European Commonwealth and approaved of the idea on January 1st as a plan to unite Europe for a new century. In 2010, Italy had suffered a recession with markets plummeting all over the world since 2008 and would be stuck in a recession state atleast until 2016. By then, a new left-wing government had taken power after the conservative politicians had failed to reignite the Italian economy with their economic policies and vowed to fight back against Neo-Fascist and Far-Right Ultranationalist groups in Italy. In the year 2022, Italy had become a trading hub for the rest of Europe and had a decent level of economic growth but many felt weary of being used as a shipping place and Italy often being ignored as a nation by the European Commonwealth as Italy was only existing on paper officially like the rest of Europe (except Britain and France). That same year, a new group was formed called the Italian National Party and they campaigned on Italy acquiring more sovereignty in Europe. In 2028, the INP had won their first elections and were able to have four of their party members into parliament and would often stand up in favor of Italian Sovereignty. Middle East Conflict In the 2040s, oil was running low and Italy had became a source for economic activity and to ship oil. With increased dependency, the INP had gained more political power and soon were able to force the European Delegates to negotiate for more sovereignty in exchange for contiued laxed restrictions and free-flowing of the oil supplies into the rest of Europe. In the year 2051, Italy had participated in negotiations with the newly formed United Arab Coalition along with France, Britian, and Germany at the United Nations but none of the talks worked and the member states of both the UAC and the EC had withdrawn from the UN leaving it to dissolve. Eventually however, both regions went to war and Italy was used as a staging ground for the naval deployment of European troops into Syria and Lebanon. Italian Tanks would soon role out into the deserts of Northern Africa in an attempt to overthrow the Egyptian government and seize control of the country. The operation was a massive success and by Spring of 2052, Italian Tanks were rolling into the streets of Cairo supporting other European soldiers. Italian Tanks and soldiers would soon arive in deep within the Middle East's heartland and would eventually break through Saudi Lines and charge straight into Arab territory and as deep as the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. This caused riots back at home as Italian muslims were furious at Non-Muslim Europeans in muslim cities and attacked churches, schools, and innocent bystandards which resulted in the army having to be called in to stop the bloodshed at home. Meanwhile up north, Northern Italy was an anarchic wasteland with the Italian government cutting off the entire region and having it placed under British and French protection to stop terrorists in the region. Eventually however, Italian troops marched in and secured the region in 2054 to stop the country from suffering economically and having it as an excuse for Italian troops to withdraw and return home. In 2057, Sicily was invaded by the UAC in a last-ditch attempt to force the European forces to retreat and it would become a battleground for two years until in 2059, the Italians marched into Siciliy and rose the Italian flag high after the UAC had retreated and the region was liberated. By the year 2060, the UAC had collapsed and the last remaining Italian troops finally returned home to cheering residents, families, and blessings from the Catholic Church as far up as the Pope himself. Fall of Europe After the end of the Middle East Conflict, things would only get worse for Europe as a whole. By Feburary of 2060, the European Commonwealth had collapsed and all the member states were left to fend for themselves. Italy suffering from decades of economic, political and social pressure and hardships, had became isolated and INP had won in a landslide in the 2060 general elections. Following the outbreak of the European Wars, Italy had declared to be neutral in the conflict and ceased all military operations with other neighboring European countries following the signing and passing of the National Isolation Act of 2060 in December by the Italian Parliament. Throughout the war, Italian soldiers would be stationed on the country's northern border, keeping out any refugees from France and the Balkans and strict immigration quotas were passed. The Italian Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Anatolio Acerbi eventually allowed in refugees but they were often forced into ghettos and had very poor living conditions. This lead to riots from many of the refugee immigrants and eventually lead to violent confrontations between the Army and Immigrant protestors. In the year 2066, Germany had began a military campaign against the United Kingdom and Italy joined the side of the British in hopes that the UK could help repeal the wrath of German influence throughout Europe. Italy had only given relief to both the British and the French but soon Italian troops were mobilzed again after a relief convoy was bombed and destroyed by the Germans causing Italy to be outraged and join the side of France. During the initial German invasion of France, Italian forces were deployed to southern France to assist their French allies as they were under attack by legions of German mechanized infantry and were under siege in the southwest by Spanish troops so the 132nd Armored Division was sent down to repel the Spanish alongside French armor as well. Military The Italian Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabinieri collectively form the Italian Armed Forces, under the command of the Supreme Defence Council, presided over by the President of Italy. The Italian Army is the national ground defence force. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter. It also has at its disposal a large number of Leopard 1 and M113 armoured vehicles. An autonomous corps of the military, the Carabinieri was the gendarmerie and military police of Italy, policing the military and civilian population alongside Italy's other police forces. While the different branches of the Carabinieri report to separate ministries for each of their individual functions, the corps reports to the Ministry of Internal Affairs when maintaining public order and security. The Italian Military was made up of 4 seperate divisions that formed the Italian Armed Forces *Italian Army *Italian Navy *Italian Air Force *Carabinieri Successor States *Venice Republic *Republic Of Genova *Papal States *Kingdom of Naples *Sovereign Order of Malta (SOM) International Affiliations *European Commonwealth *United Nations Category:Pre-War Countries Category:Locations Category:Pre-War Factions